Client Features

Apr
26

Chocolatier Takes Unexpected Path to Entrepreneurship

3 minute read By Amanda Kuhnert  When Dawn Wagner took a job at Lake Champlain Chocolates as a student at the University of Vermont, she had no intention of becoming a chocolatier. Her focus, at the time, was theater. After graduation, Wagner moved to New York City, where she worked as a stage manager for on- and off-Broadway […]

By Jacob Dubois | Client Features
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Mar
15

New bookstore owners plan for post-pandemic future

2 minute read By Amanda Kuhnert  About six months into the pandemic, Katya d’Angelo and Chris Triolo purchased a brick-and-mortar business right around the corner from where they live in downtown Waterbury, Vermont. The two are known around town for their ice-cream tricycle, The Udder Guys—a side business to their day jobs in marketing and computer programming. But […]

By Jacob Dubois | Client Features
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Feb
15

Longtime Customer Becomes New Café Owner

2 minute read By Amanda Kuhnert  For years, Nadia Dole had stopped at Vergennes Laundry on her way to visit family in Montreal. She loved the simplicity of the French-style café and bakery on Main Street in Vergennes, and even considered purchasing the business when it went up for sale in 2017 by then-owners Julianne and Didier Murat. […]

By Jacob Dubois | Client Features
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Jan
18

Burlington restaurant owners open second location in Brooklyn

2 minute read By Amanda Kuhnert In 2013 Trevor Sullivan was looking for free business advice from someone with experience and enthusiasm to help. At the time, he was trying to open his first business—a vegan restaurant in downtown Burlington, and needed assistance organizing his financials for a loan application. Sullivan reached out to the Vermont Small Business […]

By Jacob Dubois | Client Features
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Dec
14

Covid-19 Opens Up Opportunities for Independent Bottler

3 minute read By Amanda Kuhnert “Despite Covid-19, we were struck by the support we’ve received,” said Adam Polonski, co-owner of Lost Lantern Spirits, a Vermont-based independent bottler of American whiskey. “From our bank to VtSBDC, it’s evident how supportive Vermont is towards young entrepreneurs.” Polonski and his partner Nora Ganley-Roper recently relocated to Weybridge, Vermont from New […]

By Jacob Dubois | Client Features
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Nov
16

Bennington brewer answers call for hyper-local beer

3 minute read By Amanda Kuhnert In the spring of 2021, Seth Barrows plans to retire from the military after 27 years of service. More than likely, he’ll celebrate his retirement with a pint of his own beer and then get back to work. Barrows’s second career as a brewmaster and entrepreneur has already begun. His new business, […]

By Jacob Dubois | Client Features
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Oct
17

DaVallia Gallery & Boutique

3 minute read Chester boutique consolidates and expands during Covid-19 crisis By Amanda Kuhnert “Covid-19 made us re-evaluate what was important to us and what we really wanted to be doing,” said Jessie Alon, co-owner of DaVallia Gallery & Boutique in Chester, Vt. Before the pandemic, Jessie and her husband Michael were operating two business locations—an art gallery […]

By Jacob Dubois | Client Features
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Oct
12

Farmers’ Market provides opportunity for Vermont Peanut Brittle amid pandemic

3 minute read When Ed and Lea Arnold first started making peanut brittle as a unique holiday gift for a friend, they had no inkling that their love of cooking blended with a handcrafted recipe would become the ingredients for a future business, Vermont Peanut Brittle. As making peanut brittle became an annual event, their list of recipients […]

By Jacob Dubois | Client Features
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One Main Street,
Randolph Center, Vermont 05061
Tel: (802) 728-9101 or in VT (800) 464-SBDC
Fax: (802)728-3026

Mailing Address:
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Funded in part through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration. All opinions, conclusions, and/or recommendations expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA. Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities will be made if requested at least two weeks in advance. Contact the VtSBDC Lead Center office at 802-728-9101 to make the arrangements. Language assistance services are available for limited English proficient individuals.